HK k zuz
THIGA
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Manpower Services
[LORDS]
[Lord Segal.] volunteers either to overthrow, or to bolster up, a corrupt dictatorship at the cost of British lives?
Lord BELSTEAD: My Lords, I have great regard for the noble Lord's views, and the way he expresses them, but I am not able to express displeasure on this occasion, because, although I am aware of the allegations made in the “Panorama programme I am aware of any evidence that recruitment did in fact take place.
MANPOWER servicES COMMISSION: DISPERSAL
2.56 p.m.
not
Lord DAVIES of LEEK: My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps are being taken to eliminate the anxiety of employees in the Man- power Services Commission that the move to a new headquarters at Moor- foot, Sheffield, promised by the pre- vious Government will be abandoned by the present Government although many of them have entered into expen- sive commitments in reliance on that promise.
The MINISTER of STATE, DEPART- MENT of EMPLOYMENT (The Earl of Gowrie): My Lords, the Government are committed to a reappraisal of the Civil Service dispersal programme, including the proposed move of the Manpower Services Commission to Sheffield. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Employment is well aware of the
uncertainties for the staff involved and for their families. He has met the staff unions for discussions. The Government have mde it clear that they hope to announce their decisions before the
summer recess.
Lord DAVIES of LEEK: My Lords, while thanking the noble Earl for that reply, may I ask him whether he is aware that the general economic case for the dispersal had been more than confirmed by the erudite research done by Strathclyde | University? It shows thereby that this
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Commission: Dispersal dispersal programme would be an ad- vantage to the economy.
Would he, therefore, without delaying the House and the noble Members of the House, see that a result is given to the Manpower Services Commission as soon as possible to relieve the anxieties of people who have already bought houses in Sheffield in anticipation of living there? Finally, on both sides of the House there are men and women who recognise the assiduous work done for the country by the Manpower Services Commission.
The Earl of GOWRIE: My Lords, I certainly endorse the sentiments contained in the last part of the noble Lord's supple- mentary. We are of course conscious that people have bought houses and that any dispersals, or views of dispersals, must be done with a view to continuity and seeing that people are not disrupted in their work. That is why we have engaged in discussions with the staff unions. The noble Lord asked me for a fairly early answer. I am conscious that I have had to give rather stonewall answers in this House recently, but there is not much left of the parliamentary Session, and I say that we are committed to making a decision before the recess.
2.57 p.m.
THE INDO-CHINA REFUGEE PROBLEM
The SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS (Lord Carrington): My Lords, with the leave of the House, I will make a statement on the Indo-China refugee prob- lem. Noble Lords will be aware of the
deep concern with which the Government have viewed the rapid deterioration of the refugee situation in South-East Asia over recent weeks. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dr. Waldheim, has now convened a special international meeting in Geneva on 20th and 21st of July to deal with the problem. The Government welcome this move, which honourable friend the Prime Minister. was originally proposed by my right
There can be no doubt that it is the callous and inhuman policies of the Vietnamese Government which are the root cause of the problem and it is im- perative that the Vietnamese Government